Radio & Vodka

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

So, at the end of last year the staff at WRVU wanted all the DJs at the station to put together their lists of the best albums of the year and of the decade. They compiled all of the lists to make a composite-WRVU list. Well, maybe 10 percent of the albums I listed made the composite list, so I figure I should post my lists for those who yearn for something more than an indie-flavor-of-the-week list.

Yeah, so I'm resurrecting the blog after criminally neglecting it for four months. The lack of updates stemmed from the combination of getting raped by school and forgetting the password that allowed me to log into blogspot. Now that both situations have been remedied, I can devote the time and attention that this blog deserves.

So, to get everyone caught up to speed, The Visible Spectrum is alive and well, now playing at the 2 to 3 pm time slot on Sundays. If you can't catch the show live, you can always listen to the audio archive provided by wrvu.org. Just click the link in the right hand column on this page.

Also, I'm gonna start up the vodka infusions part of the blog. Stay tuned, updates are just around the corner.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I was super busy with other stuff last week, so I just kinda said "Fuck it" and didn't mention last week's radio show. Well, I'm not gonna let that happen again this week, so here's the set list:

1. The Icarus Line – “Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers”I love, love, love this song. It's dirty, dirty, dirty - the way rock 'n roll should be. I thought it was a good opener and I was right. *pats self on back*

2. Interpol – “Obstacle 1”Oh Interpol, if only all the songs you write could be as good as "Obstacle 1". Interpol's founding drummer was Greg Drudy, who drummed for screamo pioneers Saetia and Hot Cross, however he left Interpol before anybody ever heard of them. Figures.

3. Pretty Girls Make Graves – “The Teeth Collector”Excellent song by one of my most favorite bands ever. These fools also played in bands like Jaguar Love, Murder City Devils, and Kill Sadie. Jay Clark is one of my favorite guitarist and he definitely brings his A-game in this song.

4. Le Tigre – “Eau D’Bedroom Dancing”I'm not a huge Le Tigre fan, but this song is straight ballin'. This song marked the end of my indie rock segment.

5. Times New Viking – “Born Again Revisited”This was loud and noisy. Meh.

6. Flight of the Conchords – “Hurt Feelings”From the new album. Shit was funny. I always enjoy playing something from rotation that's actually good. Huzzah!

7. Misplaced My Zombie – “Fraggle Rock”Huh. There's mid-90's skate punk in Nashville? Apparently. I didn't mind this, except that it must have inspired someone to call in and request The Offspring. Thankfully, I was unable to find any in WRVU's library.

8. Headlights – “Get Going”I absolutely have no recollection of playing this. It's like it never happened.

9. Antipop Consortium – “Volcano”I do remember this one. 'Indie hip-hop' for kids that watch Adult Swim. This shit sucked so hard I had to cut it short. That has never happened before.

11. Placebo – “Kitty Litter”Someone called into the station requesting Placebo. I tracked down one of their albums and played the first track on it. Not my kind of thing. Production is too clean and the dude has a really whiny, high voice. Whatever, it's what the people want, I guess.

12. Antioch Arrow – “Conspiring the Go-Go”This track marked the last leg of the show, when I started playing some of my favorites. Antioch Arrow was one of the original Gravity Records bands. Really bad production, but a hell of a lot of energy is packed into this song.

13. Heroin – “Leave”Label mates of Antioch Arrow. Matt Anderson (vocals) started Gravity Records with his band Heroin, then ironically, ran the band and the label into the ground when he became addicted to the drug, heroin.

14. Suis la Lune – “This Heart Easily Tears”Swedish screamo? Yessir.

15. You and I – “A Day That Passes Through Us”Another early emo band. I haven't listened all the way through their discography, but I did thoroughly enjoy this song.

16. Life at These Speeds – “A New Design”Recent screamo band that put out two records on Level Plane Records. This had a major indie influence that I did not expect to hear. Whatever, its all good.

17. The Coma Recovery – “I Left My Body in Oregon”I loved this instrumental. Superb mix of discord and harmony. Well done fellas.

18. Circle Takes the Square – “Interview at the Ruins”The vocal rounds that this band puts together are pure bliss. They carry the Blood Brother's torch for spastic discord. I've heard that they're writing a record, so hopefully that will come out sometime in the near future.

19. Discovery – “Orange Shirt”I played this because I got to the end of my show and realized that I needed to play one more requirement from rotation, so I grabbed this off the shelf. What can I say? It sucked.

Monday, October 26, 2009

I am not off to a good start with this blog... super late on this posting... should've been done by Tuesday. Oh well.

Here's the listing for Monday's show. The show was good, with only one one production error, that being when I blasted the volume at the beginning of "Blessed Burden" (I sincerely hope I didn't bust anyone's speakers). All apologies to the dude that asked for me to play a local band called the Alcoholic Stuntmen, or at least that's what I think they're called, but I couldn't find them in WRVU's library.

1) The Gaslight Anthem - "Great Expectations"This was an excellent way to start off the show, especially since my sister had taken me to see them and Murder By Death at the Mercy Lounge on Friday as a birthday gift. The Gaslight Anthem writes some really good blue collar punk drinking songs with a good rock 'n roll backbone. Not too abrasive for the first song in a 9 am radio show.

2) mewithoutYou - "The Fox, The Crow, and the Cookie"mewithoutYou's latest album has been on rotation at WRVU since I began training in the summer and I'm not gonna stop playing it until the music directors pull it off the shelf.

3) Murder by Death - "Steal Away"Played in tribute of my sister for taking me out to the show on Friday, again. To quote MBD's singer and guitarist, Adam Turla, MBD writes songs about "doom and shit." Adam Turla sounds like Johnny Cash and their cellist is ridiculously hot, so its hard to keep from spinning their records.

4) Dinosaur Jr - "Pieces"These dudes are old, but the still get it done. "Pieces" is a decent indie rock song, but I do think it drones on a little too long.

5) Mos Def - "Quiet Dog Bite Hard"I don't get enough hip hop in my show. I should work on that for the future, but in the meantime Mos Def is holding down the fort.

6) Ocelots - "The Truth As I See It"Local Nashville band that plays indie rock. They have an amazing song about an elephant that's on fire, but I've already played it twice in the past month, so I figured that I'd play a different song.

7) Brand New - "Bed"Brand New's new album Daisy is fuckin' fantastic and "Bed" is just one of ten excellent songs that I want to play on the show. It's a dark song with a haunting chorus, a combination that will always win me over.

8) Get Laid - "Yours Truly"I'd never heard this before, but it worked well coming out of the talking break. Get Laid is a female fronted band from New York that plays old school hardcore punk with conviction.

9) Mission of Burma - "Feed"I had heard good things about Mission of Burma everywhere from AP to punknews.org to my weekly Grimey's newsletters, but this was completely underwhelming. Meh.

10) Polvo - "The Pedlar"Slightly better than Mission of Burma, but not by much.

11) Pre - "Gang of Wire"Had never listened to this before. I could not wait for this song to end and should have pulled the plug early. Sorry folks.

12) Defeater - "Blessed Burden""Blessed Burden" is the opening track off of Defeater's debut album, Travels. Travels is a strictly narrative concept album and one of the best debut albums I've ever listened to. Since Modern Life is War broke up, Defeater is the new torch carrier for the blue collar melodic hardcore genre.

13) I Would Set Myself On Fire For You - "So This Is Your Home"I Would Set Myself On Fire For You was a screamo band from Georgia. They were an awesome mix of Ugly Organ era Cursive and Circle takes the Square. Most of their stuff is more chaotic and frenetic, but this is still a really good track that highlights their tendency for singing in rounds.

14) These Arms Are Snakes - "Subtle Body"TAAS can do no wrong. Within the realm of music, I can only say that about them, Geoff Rickly, Converge, and Brand New. That's it. "Subtle Body" is a dirty and sexy track off of TAAS's second album, Easter.

15) Bear vs Shark - "Song About Old Roller Coaster"I find this song to be really similar in structure to that of "Subtle Body". Bear vs Shark were a post-hardcore band in the vein of At the Drive-In. They broke up way too soon. "Song About Old Roller Coaster" is my favorite song of theirs.

16) Trophy Scars - "Anxiety. Anxieties.""Anxiety. Anxieties." packs a major emotional punch. It is the de facto closer for the album Alphabet. Alphabets., which has a major theme of alliteration and I love the way that it plays out into this song.

Check out the show by clicking the link to the archive on the right hand column or listen to the show on Mondays at 9 am on 91.1 WRVU. I haven't made next week's set yet, but I'd like to include Dead Swans and Russian Circles. If you'd like to request anything, leave a comment.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Well, looks like I've caved in and joined the late 1990's by starting a blog. My intent for Radio & Vodka is to talk about my two big hobbies right now: my radio show on 91.1 WRVU Nashville and my vodka infusions. Of course, me being me, I'm going to have some random, tangential posts, but that's par for the course, right?

Anyways, welcome to Radio & Vodka. My first update should come sometime around Monday after my radio show, in which I'll post the set-list from the show, why I chose the songs I played, and a link to the audio archive (for those of you who didn't catch the show at 9 am on Monday on 91.1 WRVU). My first post on vodka infusions should appear later in the week as I am currently preparing a handle of Grey Goose for a Halloween party. Yum.

Who I Am and What I Do

I'm a student at Vanderbilt University where I study Special Education with the intention of (eventually) teaching gifted students at the high school level.

I have a radio show on 91.1 WRVU Nashville, Vanderbilt University's college radio station. My show is entitled 'The Visible Spectrum' and airs every Sunday from 2 pm to 3 pm. The format is loud and chaotic (post-hardcore, modern melodic hardcore, skramz, metalcore, etc.) music then an eclectic (mostly indie) mix then more loud and chaotic music. If you can't catch the show live, you can listen to an archive (requires RealPlayer) of the past week's show here:
The Visible Spectrum

I also make vodka infusions for friends and family. I love experimenting with new flavors and receiving praise when I successfully execute a new recipe.